Goldman names private-equity executive Ogunlesi to board

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) said it has named Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, managing partner and chairman of private-equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, to its board of directors, effective Monday.

The New York-based investment bank now has 11 directors on its board and said it expects to appoint another independent director some time soon.

Ogunlesi, a lawyer by training, spent more than a decade as an investment banker and executive at Credit Suisse Group AG CSGN.VX.

His current firm, Global Infrastructure Partners, was founded in 2006 as a joint venture between Credit Suisse and General Electric Co (GE.N). It invests billions of dollars globally in energy, transportation, water and waste industries and recently gathered $8.25 billion for its second fund, the largest global infrastructure fund to date.

Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement that the board chose Ogunlesi because of his experience in finance, global capital markets and client relationships.

Goldman has been trying to promote its independent board credentials since settling a proxy battle with shareholder American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) last spring. AFSCME had wanted Goldman to split the CEO and chairman responsibilities.

Instead, Goldman made some changes to its board structure, naming Jim Schiro as lead independent director and adding some new duties to that role, including an annual CEO evaluation and setting the board's meeting agendas.

In addition to Blankfein, Goldman's board includes a few other directors with company ties.

Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn serves as president of the board, and Stephen Friedman, who ran Goldman as a senior partner before it became a public company, is also director. At the end of January, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar will also join the board after he steps down from his current position.